Saturday, July 24, 2010

Fremont Island Swim

In my English Channel Crossing training, I've realized that swimming in fresh water is one thing, but swimming in salty water is another. Swimming in the Great Salt Lake is the extreme salt water swimming experience. Don't let the fact that it's a lake lessen your impression that it isn't often times violent with waves like the ocean. There have been Fremont Island Visitors who were in grave danger boating there. When bad weather comes in, it can be very dangerous.But not the case with my swim...When I started out Friday morning we immediately had trouble with the trolling motor, so we hurried and packed everything back up and went to boat #2, the Pelican tandem Kayak. Jacob was OK to paddle that far. So we hurried back and started off. The water was smooth as glass. The DNR deputy followed us to the ramp and did a boat check and was a nice guy. We passed on everything.We started off at 11:56 am. The water felt comfortable and not overly hot, even though it came in at 83 degrees. It took 3:19 to go 6.7 miles including feedings so I met the 2 mph threshold. We landed and immediately set up camp.We did alot of exploring and found that the island is covered (at least where ever there is sagebrush) with humongous spiders. Here's the video summary of our trip

Next morning we got up, had breakfast, broke camp and loaded up the boat to swim home. Left at 8:40am. I noticed that about 3 miles from Antelope there were some big black rocks below the surface about 8 feet down. Similar to the rocks on the beach at Fremont. Look like igneous rocks. The water was pretty clear and didn't see much brine shrimp. But at 2 miles from Antelope it got more cloudy with brine shrimp and the tiny brine flies got thick. Gets really nasty the closer you get to Antelope. Finished really strong and was pushing it hard. Felt great! Never had any issues with my shoulders or back. Probably because I was so streamlined and my feet hardly had to kick at all. Didn't even have to tread water at feeding breaks. My lips and tongue sure took a beating!Thank goodness for mouthwash. That really refreshed my mouth every 30-40 minutes.Total Swim: 12.9 milesTotal Time: 6:14We left a geocache on the Island (with , which is still being reviewed, but once it is published I will update this page.Fremont Island HistoryFremont Island has a rich history. It was first documented as being explored by John C. Fremont and Kit Carson in 1843, who afterwards named it "Disappointment Island". Carson was so bored that he chiseled a cross in a rock there. It has also been called Castle Island because of the islands shape as well as Miller's Island because of Dan Miller who put 153 head of sheep there in 1859. The official name is Fremont Island.Fremont Island has been the home topermanent residents,outcasted graverobber, and sheep ranchers. Has been recently visted by kayakers,ham radio users,scouts,photographers, and now aswimmer. Because you can't drive to Fremont Island, it remains a "frontier" that not many people enjoy, even with thousands of local outdoor enthusiasts within a half hour from it. It's quite possible the word just isn't out about how neat the Island is and what an adventure it is to visit. Hopefully it's mystery can be enjoyed by more people. If you do decide to visit Fremont Island, do the world a favor and share your pictures and write about your visit online.Fremont Island is NOT owned by the State like Antelope. It is private land and you need special permission to go out there. Also, it's actually pretty dangerous if you're not prepared to deal with the elements.

If you live in Utah and plan a marathon swim in the ocean, the best place to train is NOT in the pool! Not even in a freshwater reservoir. The best place to train for those conditions is in the Great Salt Lake! This precious resource needs protection and understanding. Learn more about the lake and don't be another "ignernt" local.

My Preferred Swim Safety Devices

Unlike when you train in a pool, when you train in open water you don't have a lifeguard there watching you and making sure you're safe.

With open water, there are potentially even more hazards than when swimming in a pool. That is why it is very important to consider a safety device.

The things I look for in a safety device (in addition to whether it can actually keep me afloat in an emergency) are:

Visibility - does the item provide greater visibility for boats and stands out enough to be easily seen from shore.

Waterproof storage and ability to stow fuels - For those long swims I like the ability to get access to a drink or a solid. Also would be nice to stow GPS/phone for distance tracking and emergency phone calls if necessary.

Lack of drag - If it has a serious amount of drag I will not want to train with it.

With those primary objectives there are three safety devices that I support in this order:

Safer Swimmer Device (SSD) - This is the more affordable option but is weaker than the Swimmer Buddy in the accessibility to fuels area, and has slightly more drag than the Swimmer Buddy, but still a very good choice.

Swim Safe - It is designed primarily to be used as a device to be deployed using a CO2 cartridge if you run into trouble. But can be blown up like the SSD and pulled behind you. It has very little drag, but lack any storage abilities.